Jim Carson

It's kind of sad that the Gas Out email was getting so much coverage in the press this week. It's incredibly flawed. It also distracts awareness from the legitimate Bike to Work day.

At its simplest, BtW day is an annual awareness generator that there are alternative means of transportation to and from work. A lot of people get pumped up for this, have a good time ... then get back into their car habits. As a means of addressing this, Cascade Bicycle Club (with sponsorship from WRQ and others) extended this concept further to the Commute Challenge.

I was self-appointed coordinator for four teams last year (one of the few times I've truly enjoyed haranguing people). Here were our results:

Thirty-two riders participated on four teams in the 2003 Commuter Challenge. The bar was not only raised, but taken on 270 trips for a total of over 4,700 miles, the distance from Seattle to Boa Vista, Brazil. (And with one more week, we would have made it to Gurupa Island ;-) Final stats are below:

Total mileage:		4,752	miles
Total trips:		270	trips
	Average # of trips per rider:	8.4	(goal was 8)
	Average commute distance:	17.4	miles
Participants:		32
	# riders who made the 8-ride goal:	15
	# new riders:	7
	# completing back-to-back triathlons:	1
	Most riding days by one person:	21
	Most miles by one person:	495

So for you folks who were passing around the Gas Out email, I have a legitimate way for you to "put it to OPEC:" ride your bike to work once a day. Since I like calculating things, here's an example:

Commute distance	20	miles	round trip
Time to commute by bike	90	minutes	both ways
Time to commute by car	60	minutes	both ways
Time spent driving to the gym, and working out	60	minutes
Time saved combining commute and workout: 30 minutes
Car gas mileage	20	mi./gal.	overall
Price of gas	$2.39	/gal.	Unocal 76 near my house; it's $2.25 at Costco
Annual savings by biking one day a week for a year: $124.28
Value of spouse noticing your sexy biker legs: priceless

I've deliberately oversimplified the savings number because you could get bogged down really deep and would probably conclude pretty much the same thing. When I did this last year, my primary motivation was to get into shape. The combination of peer pressure and camaraderie helped.

Key point: At least give it a try.

For comparison, my round trip commute was just under 38 miles with about 2,250' of elevation gain. Some days I'd drive in, bike home, then bike in/drive home the next day. Or I'd even try the bus part of the way. By the end of the challenge I had lost 8 pounds and 20 minutes off my one-way time.